The economic basis of credit unions - finances of a household. The main objective of the credit union - to ensure financial stability of a household, to ensure the priority of their shareholders' financial interests. Main share of credit unions assets is concentrated in loans (about 50%), while the share of consumer loans in commercial banks and finance companies active operations rarely exceeds 15%. The most common type of loans in credit unions are loans to purchase new and used cars (40%), followed by first mortgages and second mortgages (35%), about 10% are unsecured personal loans to member of unions and about 15% - are loans on credit cards and other loans. Credit unions attract people in the first place by the opportunity to get cash loan (credit) - quickly and relatively inexpensively. Some credit unions are closed, serving only their members. However, the more and more popularitywin cooperatives of open type. Credit unions also differ from the traditional consumer cooperatives. Specialization of credit unions to provide financial services to its shareholders requires a particularly strict regulation of membership and acceptable activities. Cooperation between credit unions, how they would not have been named, took place always, from the moment when the movement moved outside one credit union. Income derived from the provision of services to its members, does not become the profit of credit union and is distributed among its members in proportion to their savings. In some cases, the initiators of credit unions can be trade unions, associations such as social support centers and others.